The Program
by queenybee
Summary: AU: Mankind's continued survival may depend on a program proposed by Dr. Lang. Hope you find some enjoyment in it.
1. Chapter 1

Rick dreaded the Monday 10am staff meetings that Admiral Gloval held with his senior staff, he tried to get out of it, but Gloval insisted that he attend as the pilots' representative as Rick was responsible for relaying back any new orders or information to the other squadron leaders when necessary.

Rick didn't usually have much to say at these meetings and hated sitting through Colonel Maistroff's boring updates, which were too long and too preachy about how the RDF should handle the situations that arose. Gloval took them all in good stride but even he got tired of Maistroff's lecturing. Rick got through most of the meeting trying to make Lisa and sometimes Claudia laugh when Maistroff got on his soap box.

Rick watched Lisa as she scribbled something furiously on her tablet as the Colonel was going on and on, and he wondered what she was writing. She always paid attention and her thoughtful insights or recommendations were usually always taken into consideration by the higher ups. Rick was amazed by the attention to detail Lisa put into her work and wondered how she had the time to handle all her responsibilities.

Rick's attention was brought back towards the front of the room, where Dr. Lang stood up and started speaking. Rick liked the doctor and usually found his updates interesting, especially when they had to do with introducing new technology to the Veritech fighters. However, it was a very different subject that Lang brought up today.

"As you know, the last two years have been centered around using our technology to rebuild the planet. Areas that were devastated are starting to show new growth using terraforma techniques we've developed and resources are better managed now that we have a clearer sense of the number of survivors that made it through The Rain. We need to take the next step if our race is to survive. Birth rates have dropped and dwindled in the last year and we need to find a way to encourage procreation as soon as possible. The next couple of years are crucial to this as the average female survivor above the age of 18 is around 29 years old and we need to encourage any woman over the age of 20 to start thinking about starting a family. "

Claudia, opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped by Lang. "Please hear me out. I know that this sounds insane but as the current population ages, there is a gap in the next generation of women of child bearing years. If we do not do something to rectify this now, in 20 years, we may run the risk of having minimal human resources. Another attack by an alien force, well, would mean the end of us."

"Our scientists have worked with Breetai to understand the Zentraedi cloning techniques and how we could apply some of their technology to help us in our efforts. Let me be clear that cloning is not the goal of this endeavor, but can aid us in our future survival. "

Talk broke out all over the table, Rick could see Claudia and Lisa taking about Lang's proposal and he wished that he could hear what they were saying.

Admiral Gloval sat quietly thinking about what Lang had brought up for a few minutes. Finally he asked for quiet in the room and as the furor in the room died down, he asked Dr. Lang to continue and outline his plan.

Dr. Lang cleared his throat and said, "this is not something that I feel we should bring to the attention of the people yet, nor should this plan be used the civilian population. I am suggesting that we test out this plan within the RDF before introducing this to the general populace. With the help off the Zentraedi, we are able to use their technology to help us better decifer the human DNA sequence. Using DNA sequencing and using personality tests, we can recommend or match persons that have high compatibility and would produce offspring that have a higher chance of having characteristics that would be important to our survival."

Claudia couldn't help but interrupt here with some indignation, "you're talking about creating designer babies!?"

"No," interrupted Lang, "we would not interfere with the pregnancy itself, we have no desire to ensure whether the child had brown hair or black or brown or blue eyes. What we want though are intelligent humans with good physical traits. "

Although she said it quietly, everyone in the room heard Lisa when she asked, "and what of the babies that do not meet these requirements? What will become of them?"

"That would be the choice of the mother, as I said before we would not interfere with the pregnancy itself. We would provide prenatal care for the mother and baby and inform the mother of the risks if any develop during the course of the pregnancy. All decisions world be made by the parents. The participants in the program can choose to either meet the candidates and make a selection from those that they have a high degree percentage of compatibility with. Once they have decided to move forward, they can either choose to be artificially inseminated, or try to conceive naturally. We are not asking that these participants be married to one another or that they have any contact with each other after the baby is born. This is not a matchmaking service. If a couple chooses to continue their relationship, of course that would be a happy outcome for all, but the main goal is to try and encourage women of a certain child bearing age range to have one or more children in a short timeframe. "

Lang continued to outline the plan. "After the child's birth, they will continue to receive free medical care and the parents a stipend for their continued care. Our psychological screening will weed out any participant that is not fit to be a parent through this program. If we get the approval to beta this in our organization, I feel that we can work out any concerns before rolling this out to the general population."

Gloval nodded to Lang, allowing the doctor to finally sit. There was still a lot of talk around the other members at the table and Gloval cleared his throat and said, "I think the doctor has given us much to think about. I don't think we are ready to make a decision in this quite yet, but he had given us a lot to consider. We'll reconvene on this next week."

As Gloval dismissed his staff, Rick walked out of the room, eager to talk to Lisa about what they had just heard. It was the most outrageous thing he had ever heard and he thought it was crazy. Rick waited outside of the room, watching the door for his friend and was surprised when Claudia exited without her friend and the boardroom door closed.

"Hey Claudia, where's Lisa?"

Claudia looked at Rick and shook her head a bit. She didn't know what her friend saw in this boy. Sure he was good-looking, having grown a few inches the last few years and filled out. He looked more mature than when they had first met him those three years ago but his unrequited crush on Minmei, and his inability to see that his good friend Lisa was desperately in love with him, made him a hopeless case in her book. She responded to his inquiry, "Gloval asked her to stay back, he had some things he needed to go over her. She might be a while."

Disappointed that he wouldn't get to talk to Lisa and get a cup of coffee with her like they usually did after one of Gloval's meetings, Rick said goodbye to Claudia and headed to the hangar to start his day.


	2. Chapter 2

Lisa was gathering her things ready to leave the briefing when Gloval came up to her and asked her to stay back after everyone else had left. She gave Claudia a shrug and watched as her friend left the room. Sitting back down at the table, Lisa waited patiently as the final person left the room, and the door shut close. She was perplexed as to why Dr. Lang remained but sat waiting for the Admiral to address her.

She watched as the Admiral sat back down at the head of the table. "Commander Hayes, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the plan that Dr. Lang here proposed. As a military woman, I'd like your input as to whether or not this plan has any merit."

Lisa opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. In reality she didn't know what to think. The concept came so out of the blue that she hadn't had any time to digest the information, instead she had been concentrating on trying to finish her report before it was due.

Taking a few moments, Lisa quickly weighed the pros and cons to the idea brought forth by Dr. Lang and replied, "As a military tactician and strategist, I see the value in the plan that Dr. Lang put forth, and agree that we may need to think of ways to increase the population in a short order. As a woman though, I don't know what to say to this plan. It's outrageous to say the least and I wonder at your ability to find any participants."

"Hmmm," responsed Gloval, "can you share some of your thoughts as to why this may not work?"

A bit exasperated by the question, Lisa struggled to answer in a way that she could make the men understand. "Woman have fought a long time for rights and equalities, from the right to vote, the right to make our own decisions about our bodies and the right to serve and fight in the military. This plan reduces us to nothing more than breeders for the next generation! What girl or woman doesn't dream of love and finding the right person to spend the rest of their lives with. You're reducing those hopes and dreams to statistics based on your compatibility testing. Who would agree to that!?"

"Well," said Gloval slowly, "actually Dr. Lang and I thought that you might?"

Lisa looked at the two men in disbelief, "What? Why would you two think that I would be willing to participate in something like this."

It was Dr. Lang that spoke up, "Commander, I know the idea may seem unpalatable to you now, but please hear me out. You are the ideal woman fit for this program, you're the right age, fit and highly intelligent. Also we have background data on both you and your family, including physical and psychological profiles, which has aided us greatly in generating ideal matches for you based on other profiles we have of other RDF members. Not only that, but Gloval and I personally know you as a kind, caring person with a great love for children, even though you hide that persona behind your military facade."

Gloval interjected at this point, "Commander Hayes, I know it may seem strange to you but there are also personal reasons we would like you to take this on." Gloval cleared his throat and said, "Lisa, I've known you for many years and seen what you went through with the death of Lieutenant Riber, since then you have not engaged in any type romance or flirtation that we are aware of. I will admit, I don't know what your relationship is with Lt. Commander Hunter, but have heard enough and seen enough to know that isn't going anywhere fast. "

Taking Lisa's hands in his own, Gloval continued, "I don't know why the men on this base have not seen the beauty and grace that you give us every day. Your dedication to your work is admirable but Lisa, life is more than this. I hate to see you moulder away here, you should have a family, be a mother before you find that the years have slipped away from you. You can wait to find the right man, or take advantage of what we are offering you and have a child of your own. You wouldn't be alone in this, I would treat your child as my grandchild and I know Claudia would be supportive as well."

Dr. Lang added, "I don't think your father would have wanted you to be alone Lisa, we all know what a big heart you have and someone should be the recipient of it. "

Gloval added to Dr. Lang's sentiment and added another comment to push Lisa to agree, "you know that the SDF-2 is nearing completion, while it will be a few years before it takes off for its mission, there is a good chance you will be offered the position of Captain. You may not have the luxury of waiting for Mr. Right to come along, especially in deep space. I want you to weigh the odds of participating in this program and having a child on your own, versus finding the right man. Who knows the candidate you select, well, it may turn into something more."

Lisa didn't know what to say. Dr. Lang handed her a folder and said, "it's a lot to take in right now. Please review some of the profiles that we put together based on an initial analysis. There are no names associated with the profiles, but percentage of compatibility is identified on each page. Please think about it Commander, while the program may benefit humanity in the long run, it doesn't mean that it can't also bring happiness to those participants as well. I hope you will consider participating." With that said Dr. Lang quit the room to return to his research lab.

Gloval seeing Lisa deep in though, left her at the table with the materials that Dr. Lang left her with and gave her a fatherly pat before leaving as well.

As for Lisa, she was stunned and didn't know what to think. At first she was a bit indignant, angry that they would think she couldn't get a man on her own. After calming down a bit, she recognized what they were trying to tell her and in some weird way also trying to help her.

Desperately needing some coffee and advice from her best friend, Lisa took the materials given to her and went in search of Claudia.


	3. Chapter 3

Lisa didn't get a chance to talk to Claudia after the meeting, both women had many duties and other meetings to attend and it wasn't until the late afternoon when Lisa finally found Claudia the officers lounge. Setting down her own cup of coffee on the table, Lisa settled herself in the comfy chair. The two women met here often during the week, especially after a difficult day.

With a loud sigh, Lisa stretched her legs and picked up her coffee and took a sip of the hot brew. Claudia nursing her own cup of coffee grinned at her friend and said, "Long day huh?"

"Ugh, you can say that again?. I don't know why I have to be physically there for my orders to get executed, it's ridiculous, especially when the plan was outlined and reviewed with all the leads before we started." Lisa not wanting to continue her rant, turned the conversation back to Claudia. "What about you ? How was your day?"

"Fine, busy as usual, just working through the requests coming in from the cities on their immediate needs and trying to do our best to prioritize and get them what they need. Enough about work though, Rick was waiting for you after the meeting again...didn't you see him this weekend too?"

Lisa just sighed, "yes I did see him this weekend, he wanted some advice on buying a couch. We must have looked at 20 couches before he finally picked one. What's crazy is that it was the first one I picked out but he didn't like it at first but after seeing the other ones, he decided that the grey charcoal couch was perfect for his place. "

Claudia just raised her eyebrow to her and asked, "so did anything else happen while you two were trying out all those couches?"

Lisa just have a bitter little laugh, "no, nothing happened, as usual. He just sees me as a good friend, sometimes, I think I see something more in his eyes but I don't have a chance, while Minmei holds his heart."

Lisa tossed her long glossy brown hair back and said, "I've gotten used to it Claudia, I'm ok with just being his friend. I know I can't expect anything more from him. It doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt when he talks about her, but I've just learn to smile and nod my head. I know it's sad but it's something I'm going to have to work through."

Claudia just smiled sadly at her friend, it wasn't the first time that they had this conversation, but Claudia wished that Lisa has fallen love with someone who was free to love her back.

Wanting to change the subject, Claudia brought up the proposal that Dr. Lang introduced at the staff meeting today. Wanting to know Lisa's thoughts on it, she was surprised when Lisa didn't dismiss the plan as being unrealistic and rant about how it would push the feminist movement back to the dark ages. Sensing Lisa wanted to tell her something, she leaned forward in her seat and looked Lisa in the eye and said, "ok spill it, I've known you too long, there is something you're not telling me."

Lisa gave a small shrug, knowing she couldn't not tell Claudia and said quietly, "Gloval and Lang approached me to be a participant in the program."

Claudia gave a stunned, "What!?" And then lowered her voice, "what did you say to them, you aren't seriously thinking about participating are you?"

Lisa shook her head, "I didn't give them an answer, they wanted me to think about it. They gave me a folder that has the profiles of some of the men they think would be compatible with me but I haven't had a chance to look through it. "

"Please tell me you aren't considering it," continued Claudia.

Lisa opened her mouth to comment but at that time, Rick came into the officers lounge and made a beeline towards the two women. Nudging Lisa to move over on the wide chair she was sitting on, Rick plopped down on the chair next to her when she moved over.

"Hey Lisa, I waited for you after the meeting, I wanted to get your take on that crazy proposal Lang had. Ha, what a crazy idea, I don't think anyone would be willing to participate in a scheme like that. I mean the man is brilliant and all, but what woman is going to be insane enough to have a kid just to help out the human race. Not only that, what kind of guy would participate, I mean, there would be a chance you wouldn't even know you had a kid out there or even have interaction with the kid. "

Rick so intent on his expounding on his thoughts of the program that he didn't even acknowledge that Lisa wasn't responding. He didn't notice the look that Lisa gave Claudia asking that their previous discussion not be mentioned.

Lisa smiled weakly at Rick and agreed with him "yes, the proposal was quite astounding. Gloval will have a lot to think about before embarking on such a controversial program. There maybe other ways to promote procreation in a safer manner that will need to be investigated. The idea to influence these births by the selection of the parents is an interesting one but I understand Lang's desire that we ensure that we try and create leaders for tomorrow."

Rick wasn't surprised by Lisa's somewhat politically correct answer, she was always one to toe the party line and she did her fighting behind closed doors when policy and processes were being decided on.

Rick didn't know when Lisa had become one of his best friends. Ever since his rescue of her at Alaska Base, they seemed to have a stronger connection, that many times he tried to deny. There was no way that a woman like her would be interested in him and besides, he was in love with Minmei, wasn't he?

"Well I think it's nuts, what about falling in love and getting married and stuff like that, we don't want to throw that out the window, that's what makes us humans, we might as well just make clones like the Zentraedi did if went down this route. "

Lisa and Claudia just nodded their heads in agreement and let Rick finish his rant. The clock in the mess rang out five times, and the three friends got up to return to their work and finish their day.

As they were leaving Rick thanked Lisa for going furniture shopping with him and wanted to know if she could come over later that week to look at some paint colors with him. He was impressed by the way that Lisa had decorated her small house and wanted to personalize the little house that he was assigned to.

Happy to get off the subject of the program, Lisa agreed and suggested that they meet later this week to take a look at paint.


	4. Chapter 4

Lisa didn't have much time the next two weeks to think about the proposal by Admiral Gloval and Dr. Lang. The situation between Lisa and Rick regarding their feelings for one another reached an all time low and it was all due to Operation Star Saver, which put Rick and Minmei back into one another's lives.

Lisa in an attack of jealousy, seeing Minmei and Rick fawn over each other after returning to base, ordered Rick to continue to pursue Khyron, in which Rick responded back in an unprofessional manner. Tired and just wanting to spend a few minutes with Minmei, he initially refused Lisa's orders and told her under no uncertain terms that, "his personal life was just that, personal!"

Rick wished he could have taken their words back the moment he had said them to Lisa. He knew that he was out of order considering all the times Lisa's listened to him complain and gripe. As for Lisa, his words were a slap in the face to her, but she quickly recovered, quickly masking the pain and shock in her face. With a stoic face and forcing herself to keep the tears from falling from her eyes, she held her head up high and looked Rick in the eye and said, "Understood, Lt. Commander, however Khyron is still out there and we need you to go after him. " With that, she turned sharply on her heels and returned to the tower to command operations. She watched as Rick and Minmei said their goodbyes to one another until Rick boarded his fighter and continued to watch as Kyle held Minmei back from chasing after Rick's Veritech.

Needless to say things were tense between Lisa and Rick after that. Only Claudia knew what had transpired between the two of them, as the were no witnesses to the incident other than Minmei and Kyle. Claudia had comforted her friend as she had cried over Rick, hating herself for being so weak when it came to him. As for Rick, he knew that he had hurt his friend deeply but didn't know how to make things right with her. He was also confused and angry as he had not heard from Minmei since that day and wondered where that left him. The uncertainty of his stance with Minmei and the loss of Lisa's friendship stung and put Rick in a very bad mood.

"Hey boss, wanna come over for dinner tonight?"asked Max as he came into Rick's small office in the hangar.

A downcast Rick just answered a bit listlessly, "Thanks for the offer Max, but I'm not really good company right now. I dunno Max, everything just seems to be going so wrong in my life right now and I can't really figure out why. I've apologized to Lisa and she said she's accepted my apology but things just aren't the same between us. Usually when we get into it and have a fight, she'll be mad for a few days and then get over it. I didn't mean to say what I did to her, I just wanted to be with Minmei for a few minutes and catch my breath before chasing all over the place for Khyron."

Frustrated Rick, crumpled the piece of paper that was in his hands and threw it towards the garbage can, only for it to go wide and miss the basket. "To top it all off, I haven't even heard from Minmei even though I've left her a few messages. I basically hurt the feelings of a good friend for nothing. Were all those things that Minmei said that night just a lie? I wish Minmei was more like Lisa sometimes. Lisa always keeps her word and look at her devotion to her ex fiance, the guy's been gone for so long and Lisa still hasn't moved on to someone else."

Max didn't know what to say to Rick. He couldn't believe that Rick was too stupid to see that Lisa had moved on, and that her affections were squarely centered on him. For God's sake, the woman helped Rick in almost all aspects of his life. Biting his tongue, Max just said lightly, "Well, Lisa's pretty amazing, not only is she incredibly smart, but really pretty too. I just hope she finds someone that recognizes that. "

Rick frowned a bit at Max's comment and Max just wanting to end the conversation before he said to much, asked again, "Are you sure you don't want to come over for dinner? Miriya's not the one cooking if that's what you're worried about. "

Rick and Max both just chuckled a bit. Even though Max and Miriya had been married for over two years, she still couldn't cook a decent meal. Max didn't care one bit though, he loved his wife and she was an excellent mother to little Dana and Max didn't mind being the one responsible for their daily meals.

Rick declined again and thanked his friend for the offer. As he watched Max leave with Miriya, he felt a little bit of jealousy seeing them together. He had never had anyone in his life that cared for him like that and wondered if he ever would.

It was late when Rick finally entered his tiny one bedroom home. It was the perfect size for a single person, but it felt so cold when he got in. As he looked around the messy room, he realized that it had been over a week since Lisa had stopped by. She would sometimes stop by on her way into work, especially if they had similar shifts and she always came by at least 15 minutes early. In those extra minutes, she would sigh, hand Rick something to eat for breakfast and comment that she didn't know how Rick could live like this and have his living room and kitchen sorted out in quick order while he rushed to finish getting ready. Rick admitted to himself that he missed her, and squelched the uncomfortable feeling that there was more to it than just missing her because of a messy house.

* * *

As for Lisa, after crying her eyes out and moping around for a few days, she came to the realization that Rick would never see her more than a friend and that her worst fear had come true, Minmei was back in Rick's life. Seeing them kiss on the runway, had been like a dagger to her heart and taking Claudia's advice, decided to focus on herself instead of mooning over Rick.

She decided to give serious thought to Dr. Lang and the Admiral's suggestion, reading through the information that Dr. Lang provided. Of the profiles, she decided not to crack those open, not yet ready to read what they had to say or see what kind of person the analytical data had presented as ideal for her to produce a superior baby.

While Rick took Lisa's disappearance from his life as a sign of her avoidance of him despite her contrary claims of forgiving him, in reality Lisa was taking the time to do an introspection of her own life and why is it that a man she spent almost two years pinning for, only saw her as a friend. Besides coming straight out and telling him that she loved him, which she wasn't going to do because she knew how he felt about Minmei, she didn't know how much more obvious she could have been. She didn't date and the times she wasn't working, she was either with Claudia, Rick, Max and Miriya or the Trio.

Maybe it was time to give up on hoping Rick would see her more than a friend. Lisa looked herself over critically in the mirror hoping to see what it was that kept him and the other men on base from approaching her. Physically, she could see nothing wrong, her long legs, toned from her workouts, her stomach still flat and her breasts still firm and high. Lisa sighed, she knew that it wasn't her form or face that kept men from approaching but her cold and stiff attitude. While not particularly shy, she never was at ease in social situations, too many times in the past she had been befriended by those that wanted to be her friend because of her father's position or because they thought that she could give them a leg up in the military. She had become distrustful of those that tried to befriend her but knew that Rick was different, he didn't care about his father's position or hers even and had saved her life more than once without thinking of any benefits for himself.

Lisa decided that she had to try and put herself out there a little more and opened her closet to figure out what she needed to buy to update her wardrobe, especially if she was going to say yes to Claudia or to the Trio the next time they asked her out. She decided that if she didn't see an improvement in her dating life in the next couple of months that she would agree to Dr. Lang's proposal. Lisa had always wanted to be a young mother and had talked about it often with Karl. While to many, having children early seemed to be the backward attitude for an educated woman in the 21st century, Lisa had always loved children and wanted to care and raise her children and then focus on her career. Karl had supported her stance stating that she was smart enough to get any position she wanted once the children were older. His death had dashed those dreams and now Lisa realized that she was soon turning 28, with no man or family in sight. Lisa also reasoned that if the Admiral was correct and that she was given command of the SDF-2, there would be less opportunity for her to have a child of her own.

Deciding to at least talk to Dr. Lang the next day about the program, Lisa headed to bed, with a plan.


	5. Chapter 5

The next afternoon, Lisa meet with Admiral Gloval and Dr. Lang to talk more about the program. She still wasn't sure if this is something that she wanted to participate in, but felt reassured after talking to Dr. Lang more in-depth on the program plan. Acceptance into the program was not guaranteed and Lisa had to agree to subject herself to additional psychological and physical tests before they moved forward with invitro fertilization, which was Lisa's preferred method. She didn't want to know who the father of her child would be and selected the more impersonal method, as it could potentially open up additional doners.

After the meeting ended, Lisa scheduled an appointment with the base medical center to have an updated physical done and to talk the medical doctor that would be doing the evaluations.

Lost in her thoughts as she made her way home, Lisa didn't even notice that Rick had been calling her name until she almost bumped into him.

"Earth to Lisa, didn't you hear me calling you?" Rick asked giving her a huge grin. Rick was happy to have run into her. He was leaving the base, returning home as well and saw her on a separate path that intersected with his. Calling her name, he had been surprised when she didn't respond until she almost walked into him.

Coming out of her daze, Lisa blushed and said distracted, "Rick, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I guess I better watch where I'm going. "

Happy to find Lisa in a fairly good mood, he gave her a devastating smile. Lisa smiled weakly, wondering how the hell she was going to get over him that quickly, especially when he looked at her like that. Resolved to move on with her life, she moved away from him and resumed walking home. Rick fell into step with her, asking her how she's been and generally trying to make small talk with her. Lisa responded to his inquiries but her responses were a bit frosty compared to before. Rick noticing that she seemed to be a little quieter than usual, asked if anything was wrong and Lisa just gave a somewhat sad smile and replied, "I'm just a little tired Rick, I hope you understand. "

Rick seeing this as an opportunity to repair their friendship, suggested that they go out to dinner, his treat, and was a bit disappointed when Lisa refused. "Thanks for the offer Rick, but really I just want to go home and take a hot bath, maybe some other time." Rick tried to change her mind, but Lisa held strong and when it came for their paths to separate, Lisa said her goodbyes and continued to walk home alone. Rick watched Lisa as she continued walking down the path to her home. He hoped she wasn't getting sick, the weather had slowly been getting colder and Lisa never dealt with the cold well.

Rick walked home, his thoughts on Lisa and whether she was okay or not. It wasn't like her to admit to being tired and thought that maybe he would mention his concerns to Claudia the next time he saw her. The three of them didn't really have anyone else, especially after Roy's passing and they all looked after one another but Rick had to admit, he felt a little pang in his heart when thinking of Lisa being sick or hurt.

* * *

Lisa felt refreshed after her bath and poured herself a glass of wine with her dinner. She decided that she had better take advantage of being able to drink now before that particular activity is curtailed. In a much better mood after running into Rick, Lisa called Claudia to chat and to talk to her about the discussion she had with Dr. Lang and Admiral Gloval. Claudia was surprised and a bit disappointed that Lisa would go to such extremes just because, "that flyboy was too stupid to see what he had in front of him." Lisa laughed and agreed with Claudia but still defended Rick, saying that it wasn't entirely his fault as Lisa had never told him or hinted to him how she felt about him.

Claudia wasn't feeling as generous as Lisa was towards Rick, and decided to focus on Lisa's other comment, that before she would commit to the program, that she would attempt to find someone else and go out with Claudia and the girls more. Making her promise that she would, Claudia got Lisa to agree to go out that next week on Friday night. Lisa agreed with a laugh but made Claudia promise to ease her into the social scene and not just throw her into the deep end.

* * *

It was a couple of days later that Rick ran into Lisa again, this time as she was coming out of the base hospital. He had watched Lisa carefully during Gloval's staff meeting and on the TacNet and was relieved that she seemed to be her normal self. Seeing her come from the medical offices gave him some concern and he noticed Lisa holding a small brown paper bag, that prescriptions usually came in. Knowing that Lisa wouldn't share with him what was wrong with her, Rick decided to casually approach her and see if he could get his hands on the bag and see what she had been prescribed. Rick blocked from his mind that he had no right to know Lisa's business, he was just, well, curious. Their friendship still had not recovered from Rick's cruel comment the last month and Rick didn't know how much more he could take of Lisa not being in his life. He missed her and spent more time thinking of ways to improve things between them and less time thinking about Minmei.

Lisa had stopped a few feet away from the doors of the medical center and moved to the side of the pathway. The physical had gone well and the doctor said she was excellent condition but wanted her to take some supplements before she attempt to get pregnant.

Lisa pulled out her mobile phone to check her calendar to see where she was due next and whether she had time to stop of at her office. So intent at looking at her device, she didn't notice Rick come up to her and gave a yelp as Rick startled her by coming up behind her and putting his hand on her shoulder.

Angry, Lisa yelled at Rick, "What's wrong with you, why couldn't you just come up and say hi like a normal person, why do you have to sneak up on me. " Lisa swung her arm at him to hit him and Rick chuckled, blocking her half hearted strike with his arm causing Lisa to drop the bag in her hand, while she kept a hold of her device. With a frustrated sigh, Lisa started to bend down to pick up the bag and the two bottles that rolled out, but Rick beat her to it. Using his body to block her view, Rick took a quick glance at the bottles, before putting them back into the bag and handed the bag back to Lisa, apologizing to her at the same time for scaring her. Shaking her head at him and his antics, Lisa took the bag from his hand and opened her bag and put the prescriptions in her bag.

"So Hunter, was there something particular you wanted from me?" Lisa asked in a polite, but sarcastic manner.

Ignoring her tone of voice, Rick asked, "How about a cup of coffee Lisa, it's been a while since we hung out."

Lisa just looked at him like he was crazy. She couldn't believe he was really acting like nothing changed between them and said, "Unfortunately, I have a meeting to go to, and I'm going to be late as it is, if I don't leave now."

Rick wasn't about to let her go that easily and persisted, "What about later Lisa? Let's have dinner together!" Seeing that she was about to refuse, Rick went on to say, "I thought you said you forgave me for what I said that night. I really didn't mean it and I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat."

Lisa looked away for a few moments in contemplation on how to respond and then looked back at Rick. Taking a deep breath, Lisa said in a softer tone than before, "I know you're sorry Rick, but maybe you were right, maybe we should keep our personal lives a little more separate, that way there wouldn't be any conflict when there are orders to be given." Lisa also thought to herself, you maybe sorry you said that Rick, but it doesn't change the fact that you have feelings for Minmei and not me.

Rick was about to say something more, but Lisa looked at her watch and started to hurry away. "I'm sorry I really got to go..."

* * *

Author's note: thanks for all the great reviews and feedback, although I feel that I am going to disappoint many of you as this story is going to be fairly short. I already have most of the remaining chapters ready to post, just trying to clean up and edit as best I can. I may come back and revise this story and add depth to it later, but I hope you will enjoy it as it is. I would also encourage others to take this theme and write their own version, as I love reading others writing.

Also, some reviewers have expressed that they would like Claudia to participate in the Program, but the Admiral was sensitive to her still not being ready since Roy's death.

Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, maybe she's right Rick, "said Max as he took a sip of his soda. "Maybe you two are too close and it didn't help that you've been scaring everyone away from her since you rescued her from Alaska Base."

Rick frowned at Max's comment,"What do you mean by that?" They two of them were sitting in Rick's small office in the hangar, where Rick had been bringing Max up to date on what happened with Lisa.

Max sighed, he didn't want to be the one to point it out to Rick but maybe it was about time someone made Rick realized what he'd been doing. Max was never comfortable with these kinds of conversations and decided to just plunge forward since he already opened his mouth.

"Well," Max said, scratching his head, thinking a bit on how to say it, "I dunno, you're like really protective about her, I mean, yeah the first couple of months were hard when we got back Earth after The Rain and everyone was really busy, but afterwards, when people started to think about more personal things, you'd basically threaten anyone who started to show any interest in her. It got to the point that most people thought she was off limits and that you two were maybe secretly seeing one another."

"What?! I don't believe you Max, how come this is the first I'm hearing about this." Shooting his friend a dirty look, "for your information, I was just trying be a good friend, she had just lost her father and basically saw him die in front of her eyes. I just didn't want anyone to take advantage of her in her vulnerable state."

Max just snorted, "She didn't seem too distraught to me, but even after a year, you basically let it known that anyone who wanted to get close to Lisa was going to have to deal with you. You're too much of a hot head for anyone to take that chance. You may have only threatened off those pilots that were stupid enough to comment on Lisa in your hearing, but word spread around the base that Lisa was off limits."

Rick, not comfortable with hearing what Max had to say, brushed off the accusations and said gruffly, "Well if were afraid of a little competition, then they weren't good enough for her anyway. " Rick paused and then asked Max a bit fearfully, "Is Lisa aware of any of this?"

Max shook his head,"From what I can glean from Miriya, Lisa doesn't have a clue about any of this, you know she's not one to listen to base gossip. "

Rick felt relieved, he would hate for Lisa to find out that he had inadvertently intervened in her personal life after what he said to her. Max wanting to change the subject, decided to ask Rick if he'd heard from Minmei where he just got a look of annoyance. Opening up to Max, Rick sighed and said, "I don't know Max, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I think that's one dream I need to give up on. She's beautiful and sweet and all, but I want something more than just a phone call, or a stolen afternoon." Looking at Max, Rick continued, "I want something something like you and Miriya have, you two are partners, getting through each day with the other at their side."

"Kinda like what you and Lisa had?" asked Max. Seeing Rick was interested in what he had to say and tired of beating around the bush, Max just continued, "even though you and Lisa weren't a couple, you two had something, all if us could see it, we just don't know why you couldn't." Not wanting to give away Lisa's feelings for Rick, Max just said, "I'm sure Lisa would have given you a chance."

Rick didn't know what to say, sure Lisa was his commanding officer, but she was so much more. Lisa was his friend, his confidante. It's not like he's never thought of Lisa in that way, he wasn't blind, it's just that with the situation with Minmei and also not wanting to risk ruining his friendship with Lisa, he didn't want to go there with her. If he tried and it didn't work out, he had so much more to lose. He didn't realize it till now, but Rick had to admit that he needed Lisa in his life, maybe even more than he needed Minmei.

Max excused himself to meet Miriya, he could see that his words had gotten through Rick's thick skull and seeing the pensive look on Rick's face, he knew that Rick had a lot to think about.

Rick sat in his office for a while, not noticing that the lights had gone on and the small room was getting colder. His mind kept going over the conversation that he just had with Max and Rick remembered the hurt look on Lisa's face when he told her to stay out of his personal life. He thought about all the little things she'd done for him the last two years, from taking care of his house, to helping him at work, to throwing him a birthday party and listening to him moon over Minmei. Disgusted with himself, Rick decided that he needed to make more of an effort to fix things between them. Max's words gave Rick a lot to think about and Rick wondered if there really could be something more between them.

* * *

Rick finally finished the paperwork that he needed to turn in. He missed the days when Lisa would sit with him in his office and wait for him to done so they could walk home together. He kicked himself for taking those days for granted. Remembering their run in today in front of the medical center, Rick quicly looked up the medications that Lisa had been prescribed and was confused to what he read online. Wondering why Lisa was being prescribed a prenatal vitamin and a folic acid supplement, Rick wondered if he got the name the vitamins wrong.

In a way he was relieved to read that the medication she had been prescribed were just vitamins but these were vitamins mostly given to women who were pregnant or attempting to get pregnant. Rick wondered what it could possibly mean and as he walked home in the clear cold night, finally put two and two together.

As he thought of that possibility, he felt a sense of unease. No, he thought to himself, that can't be it..didn't Lisa say that the idea was ridiculous? As he thought back, he remembered Lisa didn't say much about it at all.


	7. Chapter 7

It wasn't a good week for Lisa. Construction being done on the floor above her office had ruptured a water pipe and Lisa found her office a wet mess when she walked in Monday morning. The head contractor apologized and over the din of construction, told her that her office would be unusable for at least a week while they repaired the damages. Instead of throwing a fit, Lisa resigned herself to the situation and quickly made arrangements to move her office meetings to some other location. Not finding enough conference rooms for all her meetings, Lisa decided in the interest of trying to be more approachable, to use the officer's lounge for a few non classified meetings.

Arriving at the officer's lounge before the lunch rush, allowed her to claim a small table next to the large bay windows. It was her favorite spot to sit as she could watch the Veritechs take off from there and the table was partially protected from the rest of the room by a few carefully potted plants. It was there that Lt. James Masters found the Commander, sitting patiently for him to arrive. After she apologized to him for the last minute change in location for their meeting, the two got started on their discussion around additional funds and spacing needed to offer additional training classes for those joining the forces. Masters was working wth the team that was rebuilding the Robotech Academy and was the one nominated to represent the group and present their updated plans. It was really the first opportunity that Masters had ever had to work with Commander Hayes and found her comments about the project insightful and helpful and smiled to realize that she was fully in support of the project and the plans. As the two worked through the plan documents, they didn't notice that they were being observed from across the room by one Rick Hunter.

Rick had gone to the lounge to pick up something to eat instead of eating in his hangar as he often did. He was also hoping to get a chance to talk to Lisa again, especially about her last comment to him the last week. He realized that he didn't want her to stop being in his life and felt that she should give him a second chance to make things right. He had been floored to walk into the officer's lounge to see Lisa cozied up at a small secluded table with an unknown man. Curious to what Lisa and him were discussing, Rick picked up a tray of food and found a place to sit that afforded him a good view of Lisa and the lieutenant that she was with. Cutting into his meatloaf a little harder than necessary, Rick watched as the two laughed chatted about something Lisa had displayed on the tablet between them. He didn't know why it annoyed him to see her laughing with the stranger and continued to watch the two and was disgusted to see Lisa flip back her long hair and smile at thelieutenant. Was she flirting with him?, thought Rick. He had never seen her act in this manner and wonderd what it could all mean.

Lt. Masters was having a good time, not only was the meeting quite successful, but he found Commander Hayes to be quite pretty and incredibly smart. He wondered if the rumors about her and Lt. Hunter were true and that they were secretly dating. Masters decided to do a little more investigation of his own into the rumor before making a fool of himself and asking the Commander to have coffee with him one day. The two parted after their meeting ended and Lisa set a follow up appointment with the lieutenant the next week to review the final plans. Smiling to herself after the meeting ended, Lisa didn't notice Rick approach her table and take the seat so recently vacated by Masters.

Rick deciding not to ask Lisa about the lieutenant, instead inquired about her weekend. Lisa, still not ready to deal with Rick, gave him a forced smile and asked, "My wekend was just fine, what do you want Hunter?"

Annoyed at her response to him after watching her smile and flirt with the previous occupant of the seat, Rick didn't know how to respond. He tried for a few more moments to make small talk with her, but Lisa wasn't in any mood to deal with him or the situation any longer. Watching her pack up the files she had with her, Rick let her go when she stood up and said, "Excuse me, but I'm late for another meeting."

As he watched her walk out the room, Rick wondered if he could ever make it right with her again.

* * *

By the end of the week, Rick was a bit of a mess. He had gone to the officers's lounge a few more times that week and more than once had seen Lisa in the company of an unknown male. As he sipped his coffee, he watched as one of Dr. Lang's scientists animatedly talking to Lisa, who had a fascinated look on her face. Max joined his friend at the table and watched as Rick observe the table that Lisa was sitting. Shaking his head at the disgusted look that Rick had on his face, he uncharacteristically decided to fuel the fire. Rick had told Max in secrecy about The Program and the vitamins that Lisa had been prescribed. Max decided to play on that knowledge to see if he could force Rick to admit his feelings for Lisa.

"You think he"s one of them?" Max asked in a whisper.

Rick still watching Lisa, said distracted,"one what?"

"Oh you know, one of the candidates for Lisa to pick from?' asked Max innocently.

Rick pondered for a few moments on the words that Max had spoken and whipped his head around to look at his friend. Max had just voiced the same question that Rick had been having in his head the whole week. He had argued with himself that it wouldn't be like Lisa to move on something like that so fast. But finding Lisa in the lounge again talking to another officer and the rumors that had reached him about Masters making inquiries about his relationship with Lisa pointed to her moving forward with the program plan.

"It doesn't make any sense Max, why would she go along with it?"

Max just shrugged, but said, "She'd make a great mom though, Miriya loves it when Lisa babysits Dana. She says that she really has a way with babies. " Max was about to go on, but noticed that Rick was staring at Lisa's table again. Glancing over, he watched as Lisa used her hand to quickly tuck her hair behind her right ear and smiled at the young scientist she was sitting with. Worried when Rick suddenly stood up and pushed his chair back, Max was relieved when Rick just stalked out of the officer's lounge.

* * *

Lisa watched Rick stalk from the room from the corner of her eye. She had noticed him a few times in the lounge when she had a few meetings in the lounge and wondered why he had such a sour look on his face all the time. She wondered what ws bothering him and wondered if things between him and Minmei were going well. Annoyed with herself for caring, Lisa refocused her thoughts on the report being given to her about the increased concern about the exploding rodent population in New Macross.

* * *

Author's note:thanks for the continued support. Please let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

Lisa took one last look in her mirror before heading out, she eyed herself critically, from the tight dark blue skinny jeans paired with stiletto booties and on top a black, silky, sleeveless, v-neck tank top. Claudia warned her that it got hot in the bar and that she should dress appropriately to deal with the heat. Lisa's long hair was partially tied up, making her look younger than her 27 years even with the makeup she had carefully applied.

Grabbing her leather coat and a small clutch bag, Lisa headed out the door to the waiting cab. As promised, Lisa was meeting Claudia and the Trio at a local bar, heavily frequented by base personnel. As Lisa's cab neared the bar, her phone beeped notifying her of a new text message. Quickly glancing at the message, she read Claudia's text that said that she was running a bit late but that she would meet Lisa at the bar as soon as she could.

Lisa shed her coat as soon as she entered the bar, it was quite hot inside compared to the cold outside. She checked her coat at the coat check and made her way through the people to the bar, where she luckily found a seat just as another couple was leaving. Relieved to find a spot, she ordered a glass of white wine to sip on while she waited for Claudia. As she looked around the room, she realized that the place was much larger than she imagined.

Besides the bar, there was a large dance floor and another room in the back covered by burgundy velvet curtains, that had a private party sign on it. Taking it all in and doing some people watching, Lisa missed the appreciative looks she was getting herself. She recognized a few of the pilots from base and returned the smiles they gave her thinking that they must have recognized her too, when in fact they just thought a hot chick was checking them out.

One of the young men though, recognizing Lisa for who she was, told the others who it was and with a serious bravado that only a drink or two could instill in someone, stood up and announced to his fellow pilots that **he** was going to buy her a drink.

It was a well known fact among the squads that Lisa never allowed any of the pilots under her command to buy her a drink, in fact there was a pretty hefty pool that would go to whoever was successful in buying that drink for her. Squad leaders were exempt from this as they were more Lisa's peers than mere pilots. There also weren't many opportunities to win this pool, as Lisa didn't go out too much, which made the excitement all the better.

As Williams made his way to the bar, his friends posted messages on the social networks, alerting everyone of the epic fail their friend was about to experience.

* * *

Rick and Max were in the back of the bar in the private room shooting a game of pool. They were there for a bachelor party as one of their squad mates was getting married that Sunday. Most of the other men were in the bar area or near the dance floor, close to all the action. Rick was ready for a night to relax and forget about the situation with Lisa.

Both Rick and Max looked at their phones on the table as the devices buzzed notifying them of a new message.

"You wanna take a look at it boss and see what those guys are up too?" asked Max.

Rick positioning his pool stick behind the cue ball replied, "naw, I'm sure it's nothing, if something big was really happening, I'm sure we'd hear it in here. "

While Rick took his shot, Max picked up his phone, took a drink of his beer and promptly spit it out as he read the message. Walking over to the door where he could see the bar area, he said to Rick, "Uhh, I think you should come and see this."

Wondering what could cause Max to react that way, Rick walked over to where Max stood and looked in the direction that Max was looking. At first he didn't see what the issue was, but then someone moved out of his line of site and there he saw Lisa, smiling and laughing with one the new members of his squad. Watching the two, he asked Max casually, "what did the message say?"

Max looking again at the message read out, "Williams is going for #3"

Rick looked less annoyed and walked back to his game. Max was surprised that Rick didn't rush out there and stop whatever was going on. Looking at his friend for an explanation, Rick just said nonchalantly, "Lisa's not going to let him buy her a drink. She already figured out that there was something fishy going on a long time ago when all these pilots started offering to buy her drinks. I wouldn't confirm it for her but she decided she wouldn't let any of them buy her a drink." Rick laughed a bit to himself when he recalled that conversation with her and then moved back to the table to take his shot.

* * *

"Commander Hayes, can I buy you a drink?"

Lisa sighed, inevitably this always happened when she went out. Some poor pilot wanting to win some stupid bet, would try and cozy up to her and buy her a drink. She turned to the pilot and said, "No, but thank you. " and turned back in her seat, facing the bar.

Usually this would cause the pilot to run back to his friends, but this one was either stupider than the rest or bolder than the rest, instead of leaving, he just stood there, with a stupid grin his face and said, "I'd really like to you a drink Commander. "

Lisa turned to refuse him again and noted the emblem on his shirt. Oh great, she thought, this is one of Rick's men. Looking at his young face she was about to refuse the offer again, but there was something about his smile and his pale golden hair that stopped her. The pilot grinned at her again and Lisa took another good look at him and asked questioning, "Zachary Williams, is that you?"

The young man in front of her laughed and said, "You got it Miss Lisa!"

Lisa laughed, she felt a bit bad, not recognizing the young man in front of her, but it had been a very long time. She recalled seeing Major Williams son's name on the Academy Graduation list and meant to send a note of congratulations but the whole last month was kind of a blur for her.

"Instead of you buying me a drink, let me buy you one. "

Lisa motioned to the bartender to get Williams another bottle of the beer he was holding and she clinked her glass with his bottle and said, "Cheers" After they both took a sip, Lisa looked the young man and said, "I'm really glad your family made it Zach."

Zach just nodded his head and said, "yeah, we were lucky, once the ships started appearing in space, we ran for the underground bunkers. Luckily Samantha and mom got to the base on time and we were able to find one another. A lot of my classmates weren't so lucky. Mom did her best to care for as many kids as we could until help arrived. She stayed strong the whole time, when dad and the SDF-1 disappeared, the return after we've been told that there were no survivors and then through The Rain. I didn't see her breakdown once, until dad got off that ship. Then you couldn't stop the tears." Zachary laughed but both him and Lisa knew what a difficult time it had been.

"I'm sorry to hear about your dad too Miss Lisa. "

Lisa acknowledged Zachary's condolences and then said, "By the way, is that the proper way to be addressing your commanding officer?"

Zachary laughed, happy to change the subject, "Aww, you'll always be Miss Lisa to me, you were the best babysitter ever. You didn't know a thing about baseball but you read everything you could about it and helped me practice everyday that summer. I never forgot that. We missed you when you went to the Academy that year, but we knew you were meant for great things and it seems that everyone was right."

Lisa and Zachary spend a few more minutes catching up, when Zachary said, "Oh, remember Isabelle?"

"The next door neighbor girl you said you hated and had cooties,?" asked Lisa dryly.

Zachary blushed, "yeah, that's her, we're dating now. It's going to take me a while to save up for a ring, but she was really there for me these last couple of years. Even though she had her own worries too, she stayed strong, taking care of her younger siblings during the last couple of years. Now that I've graduated and I'm getting a salary, I'm helping her out best I can. I know the ring isn't important, but I want to give her something special."

Lisa was touched by how sincere and true Zachary was. She remembered the tomboy with curly brown hair who tried to get Zachary to pay attention to her that summer, but 8 year old boys were much more interested in baseball than girls.

Quickly thinking on her feet, Lisa thought of how she could help and hearing a popular dance song, that wasn't a Minmei song, being played on to the dance floor and she had an idea. Grinning, she looked at Zachary and said, "is there a bet about getting me to dance?"

At first Zachary looked confused and then a wide grin appeared on his face. A bit embarrassed, Zachary looked a bit apologetic and said somewhat sheepishly admitted that, "yeah there is, but no one expects to win that one. "

Lisa just smiled and nodded with her head to the dance floor.

Zachary getting the hint, put his beer down on the bar and said in a loud voice, "Commander, would you care to dance?"

"I'd love to, Corporal." With that, she hopped of the bar stool and took Zachary's hand to hit the dance floor.

Almost all eyes were watching them as they made there way to the dance floor and those dancing already made room for the two new dancers. Lisa quickly got into the groove and sang along with the song and danced to the beat. Zachary a little unsure of how to behave, quickly saw that Lisa was enjoying herself and starting dancing to the beat himself and keeping in rhythm with Lisa.

* * *

In the back room, Max and Rick's phones started buzzing incessantly. Wondering what was going on outside, a slightly drunk Rick checked the messages, swore softly under his breath, and started heading back to the bar area. Max followed, asking him, "What happened?"

Rick stopped at the doorway of the pool room and scanned the dance floor. It didn't take him long to find Lisa and Zachary dancing up a storm. Max came up behind him and taking in the scene, said surprised, "Wow, she's actually a pretty good dancer, who knew. "

It wasn't until Zachary started dancing closer to Lisa that Rick reacted. Disgusted, with their behavior he made his way through the dance floor until he was right in front of the two. Lisa and Zach were having fun going through some old school dance moves, that they didn't even notice Rick until he loudly said "Corporal, what do you think you are doing?"

Startled, Zachary and Lisa stopped dancing at the interruption, as well some of the other patrons around them.

Zachary, started to explain, when Rick gave him a look and said, "I don't want to hear it, Corporal, you know the rules, Commander Hayes is not to be bothered or inconvenienced in anyway. Do you not recall that when joining the Skull?"

Zachary started to try and explain again but a confused and somewhat angry Lisa intervened, "and what is that supposed to mean Lt. Hunter? It's none if your business who I see, or what I do. Are you telling me that you've ordered your men not to interact with me outside of base?"

Flustered Rick tried to explain, "It wasn't like that at all Lisa, I just thought you needed some time get over what happened at Alaska Base. "

"Shouldn't that have been my decision, Hunter? Since when have you been my keeper. " retorted Lisa.

Ignoring her very valid complaint, Rick said a bit jealousy, "isn't he a bit young for you Lisa? Or are you just adding him to your list of candidates for the Program?"

At that, Lisa drew back her hand and slapped Rick with her open palm. A collective, "Oooooo' went through the bar and then silence as the music cut out and everyone waited with bated breath to see what was going to happen next.

It was at that point that Claudia reached her friends in the middle of the dance floor and before Lisa could open her mouth, she dragged Lisa to the back room. Max, who had also followed Rick out on the floor, pulled him into the back room to cool down.


	9. Chapter 9

Lisa was fuming by the time Max pulled Rick into the back room. Claudia watched as her friend paced up and down the room. She quickly moved the pool sticks away from Lisa in case she decided to attack Rick with one of them.

Lisa was so angry, she could barely speak, how dare he presume to make decisions about her life, when his life was off limits. Angry at his hypocrisy and his interference, she just wanted to scream at him.

Finally, from the corner of her eye, she saw him standing near the front of the room. Lisa gave a frustrated yell and ran over to where Max was talking to him and pushed Rick in the chest hard. "What the hell is wrong with you. How dare you yell at me for interfering in your life, when you've been interfering in mine the whole time! I'm so angry right with you right now. "

Rick, still mad, at seeing her dancing with another guy, yelled back, "What about you, I figured it out y'know, I'm not stupid. Those meds you got, they're for woman who are trying to have a baby. Is Williams one of the potential donors? Is that why you were so nice to him and dancing with him like that? And what about all those other guys this week I saw you in the lounge with. Are they all candidates too, to be your baby's daddy?"

"What are you taking about Rick?! For your information, it's none of your business if I did decide to participate in the Program and you definitely have no right to berate me on the dance floor like that. I don't need to stay here for this, I'm leaving." With that Lisa stalked to the doorway, only to find the doorway blocked by Max and Claudia.

Claudia crossed her arms in front of her and said, "I'm not quite sure what happened out there, but you two seriously need to talk. We're not letting you two leave until you two come to some resolution."

Lisa argued, "There's nothing to talk about, Rick is an idiot and I'm going home to enjoy the rest of my night."

"Sorry Commander, I agree with Lt. Commander Grant here, you two really need to talk and if we have to stay here all night, we will. " Max continued to block the doorway with his lanky frame.

Seeing the look on her friends faces, Lisa threw up her hands and went to sit on one if the couches far from where Rick was perched in a chair.

After a very long while, it was Rick that asked the first question. "Why are you going to participate in that Program Lisa?"

Lisa just glared at Rick and ignored his question. Rick just continued, "I mean I just don't get it, you have so much going for you, you're beautiful and smart, you wouldn't need to participate in something like that, there are a ton of guys that would want to date you. "

Lisa couldn't hold back, "Oh yeah, well where have they been the last couple of years. I don't see anyone breaking down my door to ask me out."

"Well that's because Rick scared them all away, "piped up Max.

It was Rick's turn to glare at his friend with a "you're not helping look."

Lisa took a deep, calming breath and said shakily, "It wouldn't have mattered anyway, you want know why I said yes to Dr. Lang and Admiral Gloval, Rick? Well, it's because I didn't want to be alone. There, are you happy now?"

Rick was stunned, he wasn't sure why Lisa would have went along with their crazy repopulation plan, but that was one reason he didn't come up with. He looked at her confused, "I don't understand Lisa, you're not alone. How can you say that."

"You don't get it Rick, Max and Miriya have each other, The Trio, they have each other and those Zentraedi defectors, Claudia has her brother and Jean, but me, I'm all alone. Even you, you have Minmei, even if you don't see each other much. I saw you two that day on the runaway and sure even if you two physically can't be together, at least you can share your day with someone even if it's on the phone. Don't you understand Rick, I don't want to be alone any more!" With that last outburst, Lisa started crying.

Rick didn't know what to say but heard himself saying, "You're wrong Lisa, you're not alone and I'm not with Minmei. "

He walked over to where Lisa was sitting and pulled her up to standing. "Listen to me, I was wrong when I said that my personal life was personal. Since Roy died, you've been the one standing by my side, supporting me, helping me, not Minmei. The other thing you're wrong about is that I'm with Minmei, I haven't seen or heard from her since that day and frankly I don't give a damn if I ever see her again. If you want the truth, the last couple of days all I've been able to think about is you and how I'm going to get you back in my life. Seeing you with that twerp Williams and all those other guys this week, just made me realize how scared I am about losing you."

Lisa, still sniffling, laughed a little at the mention of Corporal Williams, and said, "Leave Williams alone, he's a really nice young man and for your information, I used to babysit him."

Rick feeling stupid at his overreaction pulled Lisa in his arms, wrapping his arms around her back, and opened his heart up to her, "I don't want to be alone either Lisa, I know that this sounds crazy but do you think that maybe you and I could see if it could work between us? Honestly, there is no one else in the world that I could imagine being with."

Lisa couldn't believe what Rick was saying, did she hear him right? That he wanted to be with her? Looking at Claudia to verify what she heard, Claudia just smiled and gave her the thumbs up.

Lisa looked up at Rick and decided to take a chance that it could work between the two of them, "I'd like that Rick, I really would." The two stared into the others eyes until Claudia clapped her hands together and said, "the night's still young why don't you two go dinner together."

Lisa, not wanting to ditch Claudia, protested saying, "What about our night out?"

Claudia just smiled and said, "Don't worry about me, you two lovebirds go on. I've had enough excitement for tonight."

After saying their goodbyes to Claudia and Max, Rick and Lisa headed to the door to pick up Lisa's jacket. As they re-entered the bar area, the whole place burst into a thunderous applause as the new couple made their entrance. The pilots from the Skull whistled loudly and stomped their feet, while a few payoffs were made based on the outcome of the back room meeting. As they left, Zachary mouthed a "thank you" to Lisa, indicating that he had been paid out for getting Lisa to dance with him. With a wave goodbye to their friends, Rick held onto Lisa's hand as they exited into the cold night, in search of a good meal and an overdue conversation.


	10. Chapter 10

Dr. Lang was sitting in Admiral Gloval's office when the phone rang and the Admiral's administrative assistant let him know that Commander Hayes and Lt. Commander Hunter were there to see him.

Wondering what those two could want and wondering if there was some dispute between the two of them that needed mediation, the Admiral granted them access and was surprised to find Lt. Commander Hunter taking the lead.

After greeting the two men, Rick cleared his throat and said, "Admiral Gloval sir, I'm requesting permission to be allowed to start a relationship with Commander Hayes. I know that this is unusual request but we'd like your blessing, if we may, sir. "

Admiral Gloval was amused, this is not at all what he expected when those two entered his room and looked at Commander Hayes, who was uncharacteristically quiet.

Addressing the woman that he saw as more of a daughter than a subordinate, he addressed her informally, "Well this is a surprise to be sure, Lisa are you sure you want to involve yourself with this hot headed, arrogant , pig headed flyboy? If not, I can send him to the brig to cool down if you'd prefer."

Blushing at the words that the Admiral used to describe Rick as she had used these terms many times herself during their TacNet arguments, Lisa just laughed and taking Rick's hand into hers, smiled and said,"I'm sure, thank you sir, for looking after me so well."

The Admiral smiled, happy to see that Rick and Lisa finally saw that they belonged together.

"Permission granted, however, if you two drag your personal problems onto this base, I'll throw you both in the brig."

Rick and Lisa both responded with the "Yes, sir" before being excused by Admiral.

As they started to leave the room, Rick took the files that had been in Lisa's hands and put them on the desk. Addressing both the Admiral and Dr. Lang , "I'm going to return these files to you sirs, unfortunately the Commander will be unable to participate in the Program. I hope you understand."

Admiral Gloval and Dr. Lang waited a few minutes to make sure Rick and Lisa had left for good and then they both stared at the unsealed profiles that Dr. Lang had given to Lisa a few weeks back. Looking at one another and then looking at the files again, both men started laughing. Gloval picked up the folders and handed them back to the doctor and said, " Congratulations Lang, it looks like your program has it's first successful match. I think after they have their firstborn we should let them know that your data analysis had selected Hunter as her top candidate, although I don't know how we could have gotten him to agree to participate."

Lang just laughed and said, "He would have participated. His competitive nature and natural attraction to Commander Hayes would have forced him to into it, once he found out there were others willing to participate. It's one of the data points that was used to match them together."

Sharing a final chuckle, the two men continued their earlier conversation.

-Finis

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I hope you liked my little story. Thank you all for reading and commenting or providing reviews, I love hearing what you have to say and appreciate the time you take to write a review.


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